DANVILLE, Ky. – The #15/18 Trinity University football team escaped with a 16-13 Southern Athletic Association road win at Centre College (KY) on Saturday afternoon, scoring a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter to rally for the win.
The Tigers (8-1, 5-1) trailed 13-7 at the half against the Colonels (4-5, 3-3), then had three total field goals in the second half from
Jackson Runyan (Frisco, Texas / Rick Reedy) to pull ahead – the last of which was a 44-yard game-winning kick in the final minute of the game. Trinity held a slight edge in total offensive yards (302-291) but also forced three turnovers defensively.
TJ Scannell (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) led the Tiger defense with 13 tackles on the day, recording 2.0 sacks and forcing a fumble.
Dorien Hill (Buda, Texas / Hays) had seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and two pass breakups.
Caycen Bartolazzi (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) returned an interception 48 yards to set up Runyan's game-winning field goal.
Zavari Whitson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) and
Azriel Ngatcha (Irving, Texas / MacArthur) both had fumble recoveries. Quarterbacks
Welker Horn (Lubbock, Texas / Lubbock Christian) and
Hondo Franklin (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) combined for 185 yards passing in the game and were also the top two rushers for the Tigers with 70 of the team's 117 ground yards.
Alejandro Tavarez (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) caught five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, while
Kade Ramirez (Needville, Texas / Needville) caught five passes for 52 yards.
The Rundown
Trinity won the toss but deferred to the second half and Centre quickly snagged control of the game with a 50-yard kick return to set them up at midfield. The Tiger defense was unfazed and forced a quick three-and-out. Trinity was pressed to make another stand after Franklin was intercepted near midfield on the sixth play of the offense's first drive. The Colonels drove to the Trinity 39 and went for it on fourth-and-six, but Scannell recorded his first sack of the game to force the turnover on downs. That was the spark that Trinity needed to jump-start its offense as the Tigers scored just three plays later.
Luke Sams (Jacksboro, Texas / Jacksboro) had a short run to start, and a 15-yard penalty pushed the ball into Centre territory.
Jack Kayser (Austin, Texas / Westlake) then broke for 11 yards and another first down. Franklin then connected with Tavarez from 28 yards out and the Tigers led 7-0 with 7:35 left in the opening quarter.
The teams traded three-and-outs on the next two drives and then Centre closed the quarter with a promising drive that set them up for a field goal to start the second quarter. The 50-yard kick missed, though, and the Tigers took over. Horn engineered a drive into Centre territory, hitting
Tyson Hancock (Smithville, Texas / Smithville) for a 24-yard gain across midfield, and then rushing for 15 yards on the next play to move inside the Centre 30. A sack knocked the Tigers back to the 35, though, and Trinity came up short on fourth-and-long. After both teams traded punts, Centre took over with 5:32 left and turned it into a game-tying drive. The Colonels covered 64 yards in just seven plays, converting a fourth-and-short play into a 40-yard pass that set them up at the one. A quick three-and-out for Trinity set Centre up near midfield, leading to a go-ahead touchdown with under a minute left in the half. Franklin was able to cover 40 yards in just 54 seconds to set up a 49-yard field goal attempt, but Runyan's kick was blocked as time expired, and the teams hit the locker room with Centre leading 13-7.
Neither team got much traction to start the third quarter, but Franklin then drove the Tigers down to the Centre 11. Three straight incomplete passes from there led to a short 29-yard field goal by Runyan, and Trinity cut it to a 13-10 lead with 1:28 left in the period. Centre's final drive of the third quarter spilled into the fourth and moved inside Trinity's 30 on the first play of the final period. Trinity's defense held, though, with Scannell recording another fourth-down sack to end the drive. This time Horn was under center and engineered another scoring drive for Trinity. He ran for 33 yards on the drive and also threw a 20-yard pass to
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress). The drive stalled inside the 10, though the Tigers initially lined up to go for it on fourth-and-two. After a timeout, Trinity settled for the game-tying field goal from 25 yards out, leaving just 8:59 to play.
Centre fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive, but Trinity couldn't capitalize and had to punt after just three plays. The Colonels then took over with 5:46 left and began moving in for a possible go-ahead score. On the 10th play of the drive, though, Bartolazzi picked off a pass and returned it 48 yards to the Centre 25. Trinity took over with under two minutes to play and though they couldn't get any closer, it turned out they didn't need to as Runyan's 44-yard field goal was good. The Tigers now led 16-13 with just 55 seconds left. Centre returned the kickoff to their 39 yard line, but four incompletions later – including pass breakups by Hill and Scannell – the game was over and the Tigers were able to escape with the win.
Up Next
Trinity will close out the regular season against Rhodes College (TN) in Memphis, Tenn. The game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, November 14.
